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The Modern Skirts

The Modern Skirts: Stylish, classic and timeless. Kinda like an A-line.

Athens, Georgia's pop legacy is well-preserved by the Modern Skirts, a quartet that has gracefully grown into its skin since purchasing a piano for $75 three years ago. Ben Folds' bittersweetness, the Beach Boys' spot-on harmonies and plenty of wholesome Big Star guitars mark the band's 2005 debut, Catalogue of Generous Men. "Seventeen Dirty Magazines" twinkles like a mobile above a baby's crib, "Pasadena" unfolds on a cushioned bed of dreamy riffs, and "My Lost Soprano" possesses a rollicking twang-pop edge. Naturally, Athens' most famous sons are listening: The Modern Skirts are opening for R.E.M. at an Amsterdam festival, and their upcoming sophomore release is co-produced by that band's bassist, Mike Mills, and Cracker frontman David Lowery.